VILLANOVA, Pa. – A penalty kick goal off the foot of Wildcats' sophomore Jorge Garcia in the 87^th minute proved to be the difference in a 2-1 Villanova victory over Hartford Monday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
 
Villanova improved to 2-0-0 in the young season while Hartford falls to 0-1-1.
 
Hartford opened the scoring at 6:43 as Addrian Knights-Browne took a feed from Demario Cameron and sent the shot into the back of the net to stake the Hawks to the early lead.
 
The Wildcats, though, answered later in the first half. Junior Anthony Dragisics found classmate Lyam MacKinnon at 24:17 to draw Nova level. The goal was MacKinnon's first of the campaign.
 
Villanova outshot the Hawks 7-5 over the first 45 minutes and the contest remained even at halftime.
 
The Wildcats kept up the offensive pressure after intermission on a steamy afternoon with high humidity here. Hartford Rotem Fadida made several key saves to keep the 'Cats from gaining the advantage.
 
Finally, Hartford was whistled for a foul inside its own 18-yard box and Garcia capitalized. He fired the game-winner past Fadida at 86:24.
 
Senior Carson Williams earned the victory in goal, posting four saves on the day.
 
The third game of the four to open the season at home falls on Friday, when the Wildcats host Albany at 4 p.m. That contest will be streamed via the BIG EAST Digital Network Presented by SoFi on FloSports. You can access the link via Nova Nation All-Access at villanova.com. Nick Mantegna will have the call.
 
Also on Monday, junior back/midfielder Anthony Dragisics was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll after helping the Wildcats preserve a clean sheet in last week's 2-0 season-opening victory over Rider.